Another Gut Pile - Bone Yard - Scavenger Thread

[Curmudgeon]

Golden Eagle research began immediately after deer season ended upstate. Things usually start out slow. This season is no different. The extreme cold probably isn't helping. Bait is hard as rocks. Eagles are few. The ravens also seemed to disburse once rifle season started. Ravens attract more ravens. Eagles see the groups of ravens and associate them with food. It's a virtuous circle.

Here are a few shots from the first 10 days. I expect things to pick up as more birds find the bait, and once temps return to normal.

Adult Golden Eagle in Delaware County

Adult Bald Eagle in Otsego County

5 Bald Eagles and 2 ravens in Otsego County. The 2 close eagles are juveniles.

[ny hunter]

Love the pics...........

[Water Rat]

Any update on the starving dog that was feeding there ?

[Curmudgeon]

No. It there the one day. Unless the dog showed up where the dog warden could catch it, it probably did not end well.

[Water Rat]

Yeah , not for the dog anyway. He probably became food for the others. Very nice photos by the way.

[coonhunter]

Curmudgeon, two weeks ago we saw a golden eagle in a dead tree right beside the river in Sidney at work. We frequently see bald eagles there, so we assumed it was an immature bald. After a few minutes I was thinking it was huge to be an immature bald, and I got out some binoculars. I was right. It was the first golden eagle that I have knowingly seen.

[Curmudgeon]

Coonhunter -

I love your enthusiasm but I wonder if it wasn't a large bald eagle. The size range of each species is almost exactly the same. I've done raptor research for over 25 years and taught a number of workshops on raptor ID. Size is not something I can use to help separate eagle species.There are big and small eagles of each species.

The main reason I question the ID is the location. You would not ordinarily see a golden eagle sitting by a river. That is where you expect to find a bald eagle. Golden eagles in our area - and we are quite close - tend to stay at high elevations. I've seen one in the Unadilla River valley once. It was flying. A couple of times I've seen them on frozen ice in Delaware County, always on a dead deer and with bald eagles around.

For more information on goldens - http://wequarran.com/golden-eagle.pdf

Here are some recent coyote photos from Delaware County, including 2 dancing.

 

[Woody Meristem]

Yup, that coyote looks wet; at the recent temperatures it better have dried out quickly or it may not have survived.

Those last three coyote photos are great and those animals look healthy.

There aren't many deer carcasses from animals that have been shot that don't contain at least small fragments of lead. There's no valid excuse for using ammo containing lead now that good alternatives are available.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Woody Meristem

[airedale]

4 minutes ago, Woody Meristem said:

There's no valid excuse for using ammo containing lead now that good alternatives are available.

There are plenty of valid reasons for using traditional lead based bullets!

Al

[coonhunter]

Curmudgen, if this was a bald eagle, it had no white on its chest or head. I am far from an expert and maybe their chests darken up before their heads turn white. I was 40 yards away with binos, and even with it being in the river bottom during a snow squall, I was sure it was a golden eagle. The color sure looked right even with snow sitting on its back. But, mistakes happen. I know it was the first time I ever thought I saw one, and we see balds almost every week flying the river. Even today we saw a couple of immatures go flying through heading south towards rt. 8.

[Pygmy]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but I saw my first roughleg of the season yesterday..They should be coming in numbers now with this cold weather...Also it may be a good year for short eared owls...On mild years I seldom see them...

[Four Season Whitetail's]

5 hours ago, airedale said:

There are plenty of valid reasons for using traditional lead based bullets!

Al

4 legged vermin may croak of lead one way or the other.

[Doewhacker]

My Dad has been busy taking pics of eagles for a few weeks now, recently he has been on the Battenkill In Washington county. 

 

[Curmudgeon]

2 hours ago, Pygmy said:

Not trying to hijack the thread, but I saw my first roughleg of the season yesterday..They should be coming in numbers now with this cold weather...Also it may be a good year for short eared owls...On mild years I seldom see them...

Pygmy,

I saw my first roughie last week. There have been short-eared in southern Montgomery county since November. They are still around. 

[Curmudgeon]

14 hours ago, coonhunter said:

Curmudgen, if this was a bald eagle, it had no white on its chest or head. I am far from an expert and maybe their chests darken up before their heads turn white. I was 40 yards away with binos, and even with it being in the river bottom during a snow squall, I was sure it was a golden eagle. The color sure looked right even with snow sitting on its back. But, mistakes happen. I know it was the first time I ever thought I saw one, and we see balds almost every week flying the river. Even today we saw a couple of immatures go flying through heading south towards rt. 8.

Coonhunter -

I cannot know for certain. I wasn't there. I just tend to use Occam's Razor (the most likely explanation). Hatch year-first winter bald eagles will not have any white visible when they are perched. Here is a shot from last winter of a first winter bald eagle on the post, with a couple of other juveniles below it. The one on the lower left is likely a first winter bird also. You can see the white under its wings because they are opened, but none on its chest. The other bird is a second or third winter bird.

These are some current juvenile balds from Otsego County.

Here are some more current golden eagle photos from this year. These 2 are adults.

This is a nice, clean, first winter golden, also in Delaware County. We haven't photographed a golden in Otsego yet. One of my tracked bird left the southern Adirondacks 2 days ago. She was in Schoharie County - between Cobleskill and Seward - yesterday morning.

For those of you who like the looks of those coyotes, or for anyone new to the forum, this is a photo from last year of the world's ugliest coyote.

[helmut in the bush]

Again, great pics. Do you think that coyote is crossed with a domestic dog? Or is it Amish?

[Curmudgeon]

11 minutes ago, helmut in the bush said:

Again, great pics. Do you think that coyote is crossed with a domestic dog? Or is it Amish?

Yes, some weird genes in there. Dog, Amish, who knows?

Edited January 3, 2018 by Curmudgeon

[Woody Meristem]

Yes, that is a mighty strange looking coyote, have never seen one that looked anything like it,  might be really interesting to do a DNA analysis on it. Some eastern coyotes carry genes from domestic dogs that were picked up somewhere in their ancestry.

[coonhunter]

Well Curmudgen, I have to go with the expert, especially when you have pictures to show me. I will have to go back to never seeing a golden yet. I have no idea why I thought this one was any different from the other ones we have seen over the years.

 

[Pygmy]

9 hours ago, Curmudgeon said:

Coonhunter -

I cannot know for certain. I wasn't there. I just tend to use Occam's Razor (the most likely explanation). Hatch year-first winter bald eagles will not have any white visible when they are perched. Here is a shot from last winter of a first winter bald eagle on the post, with a couple of other juveniles below it. The one on the lower left is likely a first winter bird also. You can see the white under its wings because they are opened, but none on its chest. The other bird is a second or third winter bird.

These are some current juvenile balds from Otsego County.

Here are some more current golden eagle photos from this year. These 2 are adults.

This is a nice, clean, first winter golden, also in Delaware County. We haven't photographed a golden in Otsego yet. One of my tracked bird left the southern Adirondacks 2 days ago. She was in Schoharie County - between Cobleskill and Seward - yesterday morning.

For those of you who like the looks of those coyotes, or for anyone new to the forum, this is a photo from last year of the world's ugliest coyote.

I think it may be one of those DOGMEN  that that  two-seventy dude was talking about here a month or two ago...Pretty SCARY stuff, if you ask me.....( Pygmy wipes his brow)......

[Paula]

Love this stuff

[coonhunter]

Oh, and Curmudgen, I have always enjoyed the hell out of all the pictures you post for the studies.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

2 hours ago, Paula said:

Love this stuff

Shows how much the state is really worried about disease being spread.

[Curmudgeon]

Things have been somewhat slow at our research sites. I blame the cold.

The previous post is just a red herring from the deer farmer, now calling himself "Real World Hunter". For him here are a bunch of coyote shots. Immediately after those are some true vermin.

[ny hunter]

Love the pics